Maddon readjusts Chicago Cubs rotation
The Chicago Cubs will do some juggling with their pitching rotation in the coming days.
Kyle Hendricks, who started Sunday, will not start in the three-game weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
Instead, Hendricks will open the series at Pittsburgh on Monday night. He could then start the following Saturday, Oct. 1 at Cincinnati, putting him on track to start Game 2 of the National League division series, if the Cubs make him their second playoff starter.
The Cubs could go with lefty Jon Lester in Game 1 of the NLDS on Oct. 7 and Hendricks in Game 2.
Lester and Hendricks have been dominant at home, and manager Joe Maddon may choose to open with them and save Jake Arrieta for Game 3 on the road.
"We've been doing a lot of manipulation," Maddon said Wednesday. "We're going to have a bullpen day next week. There are other things we may do. We haven't announced it. We haven't even talked to everybody yet, but there are other things we may want to try to do.
"So there's going to be a lot of manipulation with the pitching staff over the rest of the season, the regular season."
In addition to lining things up, Maddon also might experiment with position players and the bullpen starting next week in Pittsburgh.
"Look at a lot of different things right now," he said. "Potentially lining things up. Potentially look at different people in different roles. We're just trying to get everything right. The lineups, I want to be creative with getting people involved.
"To not belabor the point, but treat them more like a spring-training situation, maybe have guys pinch hit in different moments where you would not normally have them pinch hit, have guys prearranged out of the bullpen just to make sure they get on a regular schedule.
"There are all kinds of different things we're working on right now to try to make it a constructive week where you get a really final good look at some guys, give them a chance to possibly be in a role they might be utilized in the postseason."
Playing hard:
The Cubs will go with a rotation of Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel and Jon Lester against the Cardinals. With St. Louis still fighting for a wild-card spot, Joe Maddon won't do much experimenting in this series.
"You're going to play straight up," he said. "That's why I'm saying starting Monday. With all respect to everybody, you've got to play these next three games right. Not that I don't trust our other guys, but industrywide, you just want to be able to do that.
"Plus, we have a day off prior to (the St. Louis series), which helps."
Handy answers:
Lefty Jon Lester entertained reporters Wednesday but said he didn't want to talk about his right hand, which was hit Tuesday night by a comebacker off the bat of the Reds' Joey Votto.
"I told you, it's my right hand," he said. "It doesn't matter if it was broke, it wouldn't be a problem."
What about hitting?
"I wasn't a very good hitter to start with, so I don't think it's going to affect anything," he said.
Lester is 18-4 with a 2.36 ERA. With 2 more starts, he has a chance for a 20-win season.
"If I get to 200 innings, that'll be fine," he said. "It would be great. I'm not going to downplay it, but really the only thing that matters to me is 200. The other stuff, I guess, just looks a little bit better on your baseball card."